Youth Thief
by Binario
Summary: "...I don't regret my choices, I did what was best. I hid the blood on my claws, I saved a cat way too young and I killed a thief of youth."


**WARNING:** contains some sensitive topics. Please, read with maturity.

* * *

Dark and light,

is this how we see the end of life?

Flashes of colors in flight,

blurs of emotions and fright.

One side, white.

Tall and beautiful as the first day of Newleaf,

peaceful and graceful as a resting swan.

Starlight shimmers and dances in swirls.

Oh, is this where I'm being send in?

One side, black.

Looming and dark as the eyes of a badger,

twisted and rotten as a heart full of anger.

Shadows slip and float in sync.

Oh, is this where I'm being send in?

Four come,

walking and running and prancing and dancing.

Light and dark, pure and tainted.

Oh, eyes of shimmer!

Oh, eyes of dreamers!

Oh, eyes of reapers!

What did I do to deserve this judgment!

A starlit cat halted, face blank and hardened.

He was one of many moons,

of many battles and suns,

of regal features and crown.

Black as a moonless night,

orbs as a Greenleaf sky.

"Few are the ones

who make us come as one

with souls as hard as stone

both pure and tainted."

A smoke cat walked, small and mocked.

She was one of hooked claws,

of hate and revenge,

of storms and ravage.

Fiery as a wildfire,

eyes green and full of ire.

"We who prowl in shadows

have few occasions to prey on new sorrows.

You, warrior of silver,

have you finally slipped?"

Did I do something wrong?

"He was no clanmate of mine,

his mouth so full of lies,

he was a miserable fly,

who stalked on the sides."

Starlight and emptiness stared into each other,

the two unknowns reconsidering.

Then came movement from the sides,

two judges of pure and tainted,

two enemies in silent statement.

"You will not kill

said the Code.

Yet you killed him with no remorse.

You belong to the shadows,

forever forgotten."

The speaker growled,

eyes of pure gold.

White as snow, yet hateful now,

he was a cat of many stories.

"He was no innocent, of course not.

He did what is best not.

Punctured his own soul,

you belong to the halls of light."

The speaker sang,

paws of grey light.

Her eyes were warm lakes

so different from all those snakes.

"Remember now, Driftwing!

And we shall choose what is your destiny!"

 _She was young._

 _Almost ending training,_

 _so proud of her I was._

 _She was a an excellent learner,_

 _so dedicated,_

 _her loyalty was to the Clan._

 _She was young._

 _Yet she fell in the wrong places,_

 _he was a cat of many faces,_

 _mind as sharp as claws._

 _She was young._

 _"Snakepaw, you are too young._

 _Let him be and rejoice in you youth._

 _You still have much to walk."_

 _She was young._

 _Yet her heart yearned for more,_

 _the warrior so much older than her._

 _His name was Webheart, a fitting one._

 _He tangled the strings then left for a new one._

 _She was much too young._

 _He never cared for her,_

 _way too young and so lively._

 _Yet she danced into his paws,_

 _until he could no longer ignore._

 _He pounced on willing prey,_

 _played with her heart like a mossball,_

 _used and left,_

 _and of her youth she was bereft._

 _She was much too young,_

 _but she was no more,_

 _not yet a warrior_

 _but apprentice no more._

 _And she came wailing,_

 _eyes wide and scared._

 _She whimpered into my fur,_

 _trembling as kit with no fluff._

 _"My parents won't talk to me,_

 _my Clan will shun me._

 _Driftwing, tell me what to do!_

 _I'm too alone and unguided,_

 _I never listened and I paid it._

 _My kits won't have a father_

 _and I will soon be exiled."_

 _I held her close, calmed her heartbeat._

 _I let her yowl her worries,_

 _I listened to her horrors._

 _My poor, poor apprentice._

 _"Calm down, calm down._

 _You'll see, everything will come clear._

 _Your parents will talk to you again,_

 _the Clan won't exile you."_

 _"I don't want the kits!_

 _I don't want them to suffer, my poor kits!_

 _I'm not a good mother, nor will I ever be._

 _I want this kits_

 _to have a better life_

 _far away from me._

 _I won't love them,_

 _they bring too much pain._

 _I don't want them to suffer_

 _for my stupid mistake._

 _Please Driftwing, have mercy for my kits!_

 _Take them far away_

 _where they can live happily without a stain."_

 _She was distraught, and I agreed to help._

 _And so came the day_

 _when I was forced to intervene._

 _Three beautiful kits, one tom and two shes._

 _Yet of their father, images were._

 _They had the same webbed streaks,_

 _the same angular heads._

 _Yet the Clan was blind,_

 _to the warrior's infraction._

 _Under the coat of the night,_

 _I whisked them away._

 _Three silent kits,_

 _three small lives._

 _I walked to Town,_

 _towards a family friend._

 _She was a kind soul_

 _of ebony pelt and clear amber orbs._

 _"I'll take them with me_

 _when my family leaves town._

 _You won't see them again_

 _and they won't know of their true fate."_

 _I dipped my head, carried the kits inside._

 _I bid Trisha goodbye and left towards Camp._

 _Yet my adventure was not over, there was still a leftover._

 _A final task that I was yet to fulfill._

 _Snakepaw told the Clan,_

 _between crocodile tears,_

 _that a badger so desperate_

 _had crashed into the Nursery._

 _It grabbed the kits and fled_

 _while she pursuit it to no avail._

 _The Nursery was out of Camp_

 _she was the only one._

 _We teared a hole near the back_

 _to serve as evidence._

 _And the Clan believed her,_

 _and her parents forgave her,_

 _and all was back to normal,_

 _except for one small detail._

 _I asked for a hunting patrol,_

 _called Webheart, Finchflight and Yellowpaw._

 _Partnered us to hunt,_

 _and took the rat away from them._

 _"You are a youth thief,_

 _a miserable fly,_

 _what you did was unforgivable,_

 _yet punished you were not."_

 _"She had what she wanted,_

 _it's not my fault,_

 _if she is too naïve to think_

 _that being adult would open my heart to her."_

 _"She is young, but you are not._

 _You selfish fox._

 _The Clan would be safer_

 _if you are no longer nearby."_

 _I slashed open his throat,_

 _watched him bleed dry._

 _I blamed his death_

 _on a hungry fox's attack._

 _His body I rolled_

 _inside an abandoned den._

 _I cut my skin open_

 _to give signs of a struggle,_

 _and I too rolled_

 _in the scent of the murderer._

 _The Clan believed me, how could they not?_

 _I was a model warrior,_

 _a favorite among my friends._

 _My apprentice was given justice_

 _and I could continue with life._

 _She turned into Snakefang,_

 _I was so proud._

 _Then I found a mate, and kits I had._

 _My life was a great one, deputy I became._

 _My mate died, with my kits I grieved._

 _One day came,_

 _when with an adder I collided._

 _She bit and I swiped._

 _A worthy adversary._

 _Both of our lives ended,_

 _she slipping behind some rocks_

 _and I between the paws of my beloved Smokestorm._

"And that's why you are here,

and this is not and easy choice.

You killed him,

he abused your apprentice."

The grey starlit cat concluded,

waiting for her companions to decide.

The regal black star,

still blank,

posture stiff and tail curled.

"You don't belong in StarClan,

your sole is tainted.

I would want you to come,

but the rules are clear."

"I wouldn't want to go to StarClan,

you did nothing for her.

You stood and watched,

as she fell into despair."

The small, fiery cat

with the wicked smile

came forward

with her green eyes alight.

"You don't belong to the Dark Forest, either.

Your intentions were too pure.

I would want you to come,

but the rules are clear."

"I wouldn't want to go to the Dark Forest,

you poisoned his mind.

If it were not for you,

she wold never fall in grief."

Came the golden-eyed cat

of the shadow forest.

He swished his tail

deciding for his partners.

"I, Leafpaw,

condemn you to stay in-between.

You are not pure,

you are not dark.

The twisted line is your destiny.

Today and for all eternity."

The crowned black star nodded

eyes resigned to accept the decision.

"I, Shadowstar,

accept this as just.

You are condemned

to stay in the in-between."

The grey cat sighed

eyes asking for forgiveness.

"I, Smokestorm,

accept this as just.

You are condemned forever

to stay a wandering soul.

Forgive me, my love."

The fiery ginger she-cat huffed

her pelt ruffled.

"I, Sunstripe,

accept this as just.

Go now, Driftwing.

Go now and walk your path alone."

The twisting path extended,

serpent of light, darkness and in-between.

Exiled for afterlife

for doing justice.

Am I to blame?

You now know my story

with all its horror, color and glory.

Tell me, please, if you see my deeds as wrong.

I'm waiting for someone to take pity

of a poor soul condemned to eternity.

My beloved can't intervene,

my kits are oblivious to me,

my apprentice is rejoicing with life.

I don't regret my choices,

I did what was best.

I hid the blood on my claws,

I saved a cat way too young

and I killed a thief of youth.

* * *

 _\Challenge for SummitClan/_


End file.
